I think there definitely has to be a balance when it comes to making travel plans. Booked tours leave little room for taking in other sites, or doing whatever you want. Yet, when I come across people who plan out every single thing they're doing, they seem overwhelmed, exhausted, and generally seem like they're not having any fun. Now, on the opposite end of the spectrum, I've been on trips where I had to walk for 2 hours just to get to the place we wanted to for lunch. That just doesn't seem ...
books
Preserve your Year’s Best Memories in a Photo Book
**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Maybe you had an amazing vacation this year - wouldn't the pictures from your once-in-a-lifetime trip look awesome in a layflat photo book on your coffee table? Okay, so most of us don't have boxes filled with little envelopes of printed photos or dozens of old and yellowed photo albums documenting our lives in photos, like our parents do. But, having your precious memories ...
Birds of North America
As a nature lover, I naturally (ha) love the sounds of animals around me while I'm out for a walk or hike. There's a bird sanctuary nearby that I like to visit throughout the year. There are so many birds there that I wish I could identify! The American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America is a book that satisfies my thirst for knowledge about the different varieties of birds that live in North America. ...
5 Places to Find Items to Upcycle
Upcycling is taking something or group of things that previously served one function and turning it/them in to something else. Remember that episode of Friends where Rachel kept bringing items home to the apartment she shared with Phoebe and lied to her about where they came from? They were all from Pottery Barn, but Rachel lied and said they were from a second hand store. Remember it? Anyone? Anyone? Anyway, what I'm getting at is—unless you want your place to look like page 25 of the ...
Art: A Visual History
As an art history major, I naturally have several art history textbooks on my shelf from my university days. Why, then was I excited to have the DK book Art: A Visual History on my bookshelf? This book has a great spot on my bookshelf, because it is so easy to understand and has such great pictures. ...
Currently Reading— Let the Elephants Run: Unlock Your Creativity and Change Everything
It may be obvious to you, if you follow my Instagram account (which you're all doing, I'm sure), that I have a great love of books and reading. Libraries and bookstores are some of my favourite places to hang out. It's probably also obvious that I love cooking and baking. Not all my recipes make it on to the blog, but I do like sharing what I've made on Instagram. Right, so what do food and books have to do with anything? Well, both food and books are ways to go on adventures. ...
Book Recommendation: A Colorful Home
It's easy to make a home look like it flows, works well together, and as if it an interior designer stepped in to help you put everything together if you start with a theme. I'm not talking about something crazy, like a Victorian theme or a Georgian theme. One of my favourite things to do is work around a colour scheme. It makes it so much easier to coordinate furniture, accessories, and fixed elements, when you have certain colours to work with. Since I live in an apartment that I rent, one ...
A Journal for Book Lovers
I'm a list-loving, book-reading, day-dreaming kind of a woman. The Well-Read Women: a Reader's Journal is pretty much the perfect gift, in my eyes. Seriously, if someone had given me this book, I would think to myself: "wow, they really know me!" My favourite journals are the kind that have prompts and space to create lists. This book has many sections just like that. The majority of the journal has full pages dedicated to single books: where you put in the book title, your rating, your ...
Teach Yourself with Photography Books from DK Canada
“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” ― Ansel Adams I know at least 3 people who received (or bought for themselves)cameras this holiday season. With any new purchase, it's a good idea to get a feel for what it can do to get the full benefit of it. My best friend, for instance, has never had a DSLR camera, so isn't quite sure how to use ...
Art & Sole Coffee Table Book
Rather than giving your friends and family another ordinary gift, how about a beautiful art book, perfect for a coffee table? Art & Sole by Jane Weitzman, wife of shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, features 150 fantasy art shoes made of highly unique materials she has discovered and commissioned by artists for the first Stuart Weitzman shop on Madison Avenue in the mid-1990s. The shoes in this book are unique and definite works of art. They're made from feathers, paper, ceramic, metal, ...